Language List by Country and Place
Adapted from Improving the use of translation and interpreting services: A guide to Victorian
Government policy and procedures, Victorian Office of Multicultural Affairs, 2003. This is not
an exhaustive list.
Country
Albania
Language
Pashtu, Farsi, Dari, Hazaragi, other Turkic and minor
languages
Albanian (Tosk is the official dialect), Greek
Algeria
Arabic, French, Berber dialects
Andorra
Catalán, French, Castilian, Portuguese
Angola
Portuguese, Bantu and other African languages
Antigua and Barbuda
English, local dialects
Argentina
Spanish, English, Italian, German, French
Armenia
Armenian, Russian
Australia
English, Indigenous languages
Austria
German, Slovene, Croatian, Hungarian
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani Turkic, Russian, Armenian, other
Bahamas
English, Creole
Bahrain
Arabic, English, Farsi, Urdu
Bangladesh
Bangla, English
Barbados
English
Belarus
Belorussian (White Russian), Russian, other
Belize
English, Spanish, Mayan, Garifuna (Carib), Creole
Benin
French, Fon, Yoruba, tribal languages
Bhutan
Dzongkha, Tibetan and Nepalese dialects
Bolivia
Botswana
Spanish, Quechua, Aymara
Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian (all formerly known as SerboCroatian); written languages use Latin and Cyrillic script
English, Setswana
Brazil
Portuguese, Spanish, English, French
Brunei Darussalam
Malay, English, Chinese
Bulgaria
Bulgarian; secondary ethnic languages
Burkina Faso
French, Indigenous African (Sudanic) languages
Burundi
Kirundi, French, Swahili
Cambodia
Khmer, French, English
Cameroon
French, English; 24 major African language groups
Canada
English, French; Indigenous languages
Cape Verde
Portuguese, Criuolo
Central African Republic
French, Sangho, Arabic, Hansa, Swahili
French, Arabic, Sara, more than 120 languages and
dialects
Spanish
Afghanistan
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Chad
Chile
Country
China (PRC)
Colombia
Comoros
Language
Cantonese, Mandarin, also local dialects (Daur, KalmykOirat, Lu, Peripheral Mongolian, Central Tibetan, Uyghur,
Xibe, Zhuang)
Spanish
Congo (DRC)
Arabic and French, Shikomoro (Swahili/Arabic blend)
French, Lingala, Monokutuba, Kikongo, many local
languages and dialects
French, Lingala, Kingwana, Kikongo, Tshiluba
Costa Rica
Spanish, English
Côte d’Ivoire
Cuba
French, African languages (Diaula esp.)
Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian (all formerly known as SerboCroatian), Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, German, and
other languages
Spanish
Cyprus
Greek, Turkish, English
Czech Republic
Ecuador
Czech
Danish, Faeroese, Greenlandic (Inuit dialect), German,
English
French, Arabic, Somali, Afar Dominica: English, French
patois
Spanish
Tetum, Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesian, English, other
Indigenous languages, including Tetum, Galole, Mambae,
and Kemak
Spanish, Quechua, other Amerindian languages
Egypt
Arabic, English, French
El Salvador
Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)
Equatorial Guinea
Spanish, French, pidgin English, Fang, Bubi, Ibo
Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic
languages
Estonian, Russian, Ukrainian, Finnish, other
Amharic, Tigrigna, Orominga, Guaragigna, Somali, Arabic,
English, 70 others
English, Fijian, Hindustani
Congo, Republic of
Croatia
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
East Timor
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Finnish, Swedish, small Sami (Lapp), Russian
French regional dialects (Provençal, Breton, Alsatian,
Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)
French, Fang, Myene, Bateke, Bapounou/Eschira,
Bandjabi Gambia, The: English, Mandinka, Wolof, Fula,
Serer-Sine, Sarahole, Pulaar, Maninkakan, Mandjaque,
Mandingo, Jola-Fonyi, Creole
Georgian, Russian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Abkhaz
German
English, Indigenous languages (Brong Ahafo, Twi, Fanti,
Ga, Ewe, Dagbani)
Greek, English, French
Guinea
English, French patois
Spanish, Amerindian languages (23 officially recognised
Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel,
Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca)
French, Indigenous languages (Malinké, Susu, Fulani)
Guinea-Bissau
Portuguese, Criolo, African languages
Guatemala
Country
Language
Guyana
English, Amerindian dialects, Creole, Hindi, Urdu
Haiti
Creole, French
Honduras
Hong Kong Special
Administration Region (SAR)
Hungary
Honduras: Spanish, Amerindian dialects, English
Cantonese, Mandarin
Iceland
Iran
Icelandic, English, Nordic languages, German
Hindi, English, Bengali, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Malayalam,
Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Kannada,
Assamese, Sanskrit, Sindhi, and 1600+ dialects
Bahasa Indonesia, English, Dutch, Javanese, and 580+
languages/dialects
Farsi (Persian), Azari, Kurdish, Arabic
Iraq
Arabic, Kurdish, Assyrian Neo Aramaic
Ireland
English, Irish Gaelic
Israel
Hebrew, Arabic, English, Russian
Italy
Italian, German, French, Slovene
Iran
Farsi (Persian), Azari, Kurdish, Arabic
Iraq
Arabic, Kurdish, Assyrian Neo Aramaic
Ireland
English, Irish Gaelic
Israel
Hebrew, Arabic, English, Russian
Italy
Italian, German, French, Slovene
Iran
Farsi (Persian), Azari, Kurdish, Arabic
Jamaica
English, Jamaican Creole
Japan
Japanese
Jordan
Arabic, English
Kazakhstan
Kazak (Qazaq), Russian
Kenya
English, Swahili, 25 ethnic group languages
Kiribati
English, I-Kiribati (Gilbertese)
Korea, North
Korean, South: Korean Kuwait: Arabic, English
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyz, Russian
Laos
Lao, French, English
Latvia
Latvian, Russian
Lebanon
Arabic, French, English
Lesotho
English, Sesotho, Zulu, Xhosa
Liberia
English, tribal dialects
Libya
Luxembourg
Macedonia, former Yugoslav
Republic of
Madagascar
Arabic, Italian, English
German, Alemmanic dialect Lithuania: Lithuanian, Polish,
Russian
Luxermbourgish, French, German
Macedonian (uses the Cyrillic alphabet), Albanian,
Turkish, other
Malagasy, French
Malawi
English, Chichewa
India
Indonesia
Liechtenstein
Magyar (Hungarian), other
Country
Language
Malaysia
Malay, Chinese, Tamil, English
Maldives
Dhivehi, Arabic, Hindi, English
Mali
French, African languages
Malta
Maltese, English
Marshall Islands
Marshallese, English
Mauritania
Arabic, Wolof, French
Mauritius
Mexico: Spanish, Indian
languages
Liberia: English, tribal
dialects
Libya: Arabic, Italian, English
English, French, Creole, Hindi, Urdu, Hakka, Bojpoori
Spanish, Indian languages
English, tribal dialects
Monaco
Arabic, Italian, English
German, Alemmanic dialect Lithuania: Lithuanian, Polish,
Russian
English, Chukese, Pohnpeian, Yapase, Kosrean
Moldovan (similar to Romanian), Russian, Gagauz
(Turkish dialect)
French, English, Italian, Monégasque
Mongolia
Mongolian, Turkic, Russian, Chinese
Morocco
Arabic, French, Berber dialects, Spanish
Mozambique
Nauru
Portuguese, Bantu languages
The Myanmar language (formerly Burmese), Karen, Chin,
Rohingya
Afrikaans, German, English, several Indigenous
languages
Nauruan, English
Mongolia
Mongolian, Turkic, Russian, Chinese
Morocco
The Netherlands
Arabic, French, Berber dialects, Spanish
Nepali, Newar, Maithali, Bhojpuri, Tharu, Tamang, and
others
Dutch, Frisian
New Zealand
English, Maori Nicaragua: Spanish
Niger
French, Hausa; Songhai; Arabic
Nigeria
English, Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, 200+ others
Norway
Bokmål, Nynorsk (forms of Norwegian)
Oman
Palau
Arabic, English, Indian languages
Punjabi, Sindhi, Siraiki (Punjabi variant), Pashtu, Urdu,
Balochi, Hindko, Brahui, English, Burushaski, and others
Palau
Palestinian territories
Arabic, Hebrew, English, French
Spanish, English
The Netherlands
Spanish, English
English, Tok Pisin (Melanesian Creole English), Hiri Motu,
and 717 distinct Indigenous languages
Nepali, Newar, Maithali, Bhojpuri, Tharu, Tamang, and
others
Dutch, Frisian
New Zealand
English, Maori Nicaragua: Spanish
Niger
French, Hausa; Songhai; Arabic
Liechtenstein
Micronesia
Moldova
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal:
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea:
Nepal
Country
Language
Nigeria
English, Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, 200+ others
Paraguay
Poland
Spanish, Guaraní
Spanish, Quéchua, Aymara, and other Indigenous
languages
Filipino (based on Tagalog), English, regional languages:
Tagalog, Ilocano, Cebuano, others
Polish
Portugal
Portuguese
Qatar
Arabic, English
Romania
Romanian, Hungarian, German
Russia
Russian, others
Rwanda
Kinyarwanda, French, English
Paraguay
Spanish, Guaraní
Peru
Poland
Spanish, Quéchua, Aymara, and other Indigenous
languages
Filipino (based on Tagalog), English, regional languages:
Tagalog, Ilocano, Cebuano, others
Polish
St. Kitts and Nevis
English
St. Lucia
English, Patois
St. Vincent/the Grenadines:
English, French patois
Samoa
Samoan, English
San Marino
Italian
São Tomé and Príncipe:
Portuguese
Saudi Arabia
Arabic, English widely spoken
Senegal
Seychelles
French, Wolof, Serer, other ethnic dialects
Serbian, Albanian (once known as Serbo-Croatian);
written language uses Latin and Cyrillic script
English, French, Seselwa (a creole)
Sierra Leone
English, Mende, Temne, Krio
Singapore
Malay, Chinese (Mandarin), Tamil, English
Slovakia
Slovak, Hungarian
Slovenia
Sudan
Slovenian; Serbo-Croatian
English, Solomon Pijin (an English pidgin), 60 Indigenous
Melanesian languages
Somali, Arabic, English, Italian
Xhosa, Zulu, English, Afrikaans, Ndebele, Sesotho sa
Leboa, Sesotho, Swati, Xitsonga, Setswana, Tshivenda
English, Arabic, Dinka, Nuer, Zande
Castilian Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Basque Sri Lanka:
Sinhala, Tamil, English
Arabic, English, Dinka, tribal dialects
Suriname
Dutch, Surinamese (lingua franca), English widely spoken
Swaziland
English, Swazi
Sweden
Swedish
Switzerland
German, French, Italian, Romansch
Peru
The Philippines
The Philippines
Serbia and Montenegro
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Spain
Country
Language
Syria
Arabic, Kurdish, French and English widely understood
Taiwan
Chinese (Mandarin)
Tajikistan
Tajik, Russian, Uzbek
Tanzania
Swahili, English, local languages
Thailand
Tonga
Thai (Siamese), Chinese, English
French, Ewé, Mina (south), Kabyé, Cotocoli (north), and
many dialects
Tongan (an Austronesian language), English
Trinidad and Tobago
English, Hindi, French, Spanish
Tunisia
Arabic, French
Turkey: Turkish, Kurdish
Turkish, Kurdish
Turkmenistan
Turkmen, Russian, Uzbek
Tuvalu
Tuvaluan, English
Uganda
English, Swahili, Luganda, Ateso, Luo
Ukraine
Ukrainian
United Arab Emirates
Arabic, English as a second language
United Kingdom
English, Welsh, Scots Gaelic
United States
English, sizable Spanish-speaking minority
Uruguay
Spanish
Uzbekistan
Uzbek, Russian, Tajik, other
Vanuatu
Bislama (a Melanesian pidgin English), English, French
Vatican City
Vietnam
Latin, Italian, and various other languages
Spanish, various Indigenous languages in the remote
interior
Vietnamese, French, English, Khmer, Chinese
Western Sahara region
Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic
Yemen
Arabic
Zambia
English, local dialects
Togo
Venezuela